In the field of integrated circuits, memory configurations may vary across a product family. For example, in an automotive instrument cluster family of products, high-end applications may require, say 8 MB of RAM (random access memory), while lower-end applications may require, say 1 MB of RAM. Conventionally, two approaches to providing different memory configurations across a product range have been used.
A first conventional approach involves ‘phantoming’ down the memory configuration from the high-end application to the lower-end applications, whereby unrequired memory is disabled for the lower-end applications. In this manner, only a single silicon mask set is created, but a lower gross margin is achievable for the lower-end products.
A second conventional approach is to create separate silicon mask sets for each required memory configuration. In this manner, an optimal, cost efficient memory configuration is achieved for the lower-end products. However, as the cost of new silicon mask sets is becoming an increasingly higher part of the overall product cost, the need to create new silicon mask sets for all each individual product within a product range is becoming increasingly less desirable.